Victoria Makes Three!
by The Irate Memer
Summary: Road trips are pretty great. But not when they're with an asshole. Will Victoria shape up? Kindly Review and Criticize.


**I haven't finished Episode 3 of Life is Strange, so _Strange Dreams, STeps Ahead_ is gonna be on hold briefly. Instead, enjoy this thing I wanted to get out of my system to fulfill my writing quota.**

 **Premise: Max, Chloe, Kate gear up for a summer across the country. Victoria comes along, sadly and along the trip she tries to fix whatever mess she made with Kate.**

 **Kindly Review and Criticize.**

* * *

Classes at Blackwell had ended about a week ago and the student body were on their way with enjoying their summer. Naturally Arcadia Bay wasn't the premier place to relax and saunter in the summer sky, so the majority of the students at Blackwell began preparing themselves for long trips far and away from the small town in Oregon. The trio of Max, Kate and Chloe were loading up the latter's pickup for a cross-country trip to somewhere Chloe described to be 'somewhere fucking far from Arcadia'. Kate agreed to join the two because she didn't feel comfortable staying home for the summer considering her sisters were also heading their own separate ways, and to be frank she didn't exactly 'trust' Chloe to not get Max into debaucherous acts like she promised not to. Then again, maybe this was all part of Chloe's plan to begin with: to get the stiff and the church fanatic buckwild and insane.

Max was in the caboose of the truck, securing down their traveling bags and other necessities with long and thick wires to prevent them from falling due to Chloe's reckless technique of road racing that she calls 'driving'. The large snapback that Chloe had lent her did nothing to protect her from the harsh sun and soon enough the edges of the hat would get soaked in Max's sweat. Still, it was better than nothing and the light attire she was wearing anyway was doing more than enough. As she was busy securing the luggage down she began to hear the conversation between her two best friends slowly escalate into a loud debate. Something about music?

"Dude, no pop. I don't know how astronomically screwed your music tastes are in the house of masque but if anyone's in charge of the tunes, it's gonna be the driver spending HOURS to get your butts somewhere fun." Chloe contest, poking a finger to Kate's nose in a teasing manner. She obviously didn't mean any harm from it, but she could tell Kate was getting agitated at the girl's bossy behavior.

"Is it so bad to have each of us switch up? 'Cross-country' is way too much tolerance for your shi-"

"My what?!" Chloe smirked. She was getting more testy around her! Reaching an arm over to grasp in a headlock, she continued speaking despite Kate's obvious whining of Chloe's bullying. "I appreciate the arrogance, but it ain't wise to piss off the driver, Kate."

The muffle sounds of roughhousing, giggling and sharp yelps soon began to change into cries of help for Max. God this was going to be a long drive with these two.

 _Maybe I should make some room to sleep in the back, if these two are showing what they're offering for the ride._ Max thought to herself with a smile. She'd probably fly off into some crazy, _Final Destination_ -esque death knowing Chloe's driving. After finishing up the fastening, she leaned against her duffel bag of clothing to check her phone briefly. Emails and texts from her friends who had already ditched Arcadia long before the trio did.

Warren and Brooke were in Japan for some crazy japanese pro wrestling circuit. Turns out since they started dating, Brooke's had a slight fascination for the sport and Warren was /estatic/. Warren shot Max a photo to her phone, showing him being lifted by what looked like the wrestler while Brooke stood in the back waving a hand.

 _Knowing Brooke, whatever bone he breaks from that will probably be replaced by some crazy augment._ Max's mind wandered a bit, imagining her nerdy friend returning back to Arcadia in a black trenchcoat, shades and a shaved haircut. _Look out, Warren, it's a bomb! ...Nah, Warren could never pull off the Denton look._

Max flipped over to Dana's message, showing her and Juliet by what looked like a beach. Indoor, by the looks of it. The duo and their families had went off to Nevada to vacation with their people. The nightlife and speedy atmosphere seemed to be a good fit for the two.

 _Her skin's looking red...I sure hope that's an Indian bur-_ Max's train of thought was interrupted by the largest cry of 'MAX!' that she's ever heard from Chloe in a public environment. Something must've happened. "Alright, alright. Don't make me pull this thing over." Max chimed out, sliding out of the back of the truck and ending up in front of the driver's door. She didn't even have time to look at the message sent to her by Victoria.

She saw Chloe, hat removed (and her poor attempt at dying her hair to a brighter violet color exposed) and now fitted on Kate's head. "OH MY GOD, LOOK AT HER." Chloe said while pulling Max's arm. "Doesn't she look killer in hats?!"

Max sighed and looked over to Max, taking out her phone this time to take a quick photo of the hatted Kate instead of her polaroid before responding to Chloe. "You made me think you guys were having a fistfight in here."

"Well if she would stop being grabby, it WOULD'VE escalated to that." Kate grumbled, removing the hat and returning it to Chloe. "She's like a dog sometimes, Max."

"Dogs eat /rabbits/, Kate." Chloe retorted with another smile.

The argument would end at another armistice, with Max doing nothing but smiling at the bickering of the two. "Everything's ready in the back. Last call for anything else?" Max asked the two. Chloe looked down to her feet, looking at the clutter of drinks and off-hand snacks to propel her for the longest drive of her life while Kate had a few books to her side of the car. Max would have to sit in the middle of the two with her laptop and polaroids. Surely this would be a good sitting angle for some quality photos.

"I'm set! Let's jet before my folks try to see us of-" Chloe was soon interrupted by the grumblings of her stepfather, behind Max and her mother Joyce on the opposite end. Maybe next time, Chloe.

* * *

Outside of Arcadia a few miles down was a bus station for Amtraks and Greyhounds. The usual ensemble of crowds and travelers filled the entering/exiting areas, either waiting to come or wating to go. Within the group sat a young woman with a large, fancy traveling bag and an expensive tablet. She was staring at the tablet intently in the messages menu, waiting for the message she had sent to Max to be even seen, let alone responded too.

Victoria was in a jam. Her parents had left for Germany a week ago, and her summer plans were simply for her to enjoy the leisure of her home alone, working on her portfolio for Mark and preparing her move to Seattle for University. It all seemed brilliant in hindsight, but not even within the first day Victoria saw herself being...bored with what was going on in Arcadia and her home. There really was nothing for her here. Her friends had left with their families on vacation, and all that was left was the hopeful response of the last person she expected spending time with during the summer. But, Max was as skilled with a camera as she was. A colleague was better than nothing.

But that was the problem; she didn't know where Max was. Did she leave too? Probably with that lesbian bitch and Kate. God, she stuck to those assholes like glue. ...Well m,aybe that was uncalled for. Chloe and Victoria didnt' get along no doubt, but the relationship between her and Kate...it was different. Very different. A bond built on hate and despair. Something she was trying to fix herself.

Nevermind that. Should she call? If she did, Chloe would've answered and they would've got into another argument-thus having no progress being made. Why was she so admant on contacting her? Maybe being alone wasn't the greatest idea after all.

 _Oh joy, Karma. Thanks, overlying forces for screwing me over._ She huffed, and sat her tablet down. Maybe she should just take the bus to San Francisco and rent a hotel as she planned originally. alone or otherwise. As the bus pulled up, Victoria grabbed her bag and began walking up the bus's steps, but out of the corner of her eye she spotted something grotesque. Old, decaying with a hint of retro flair.

 _Isn't that Chloe's shitty truck?_

It WAS Chloe's shitty truck! Oh, the stars were aligned indeed! It seemed that the truck had went out on Chloe-and with a bit of squinting, she saw Max in the passengers as well! It looks like she had caught the two right as they began to depart. Victoria grabbed her bag instead to walk across the street to see the two. She waved a hand in an attempt to signal Chloe and Max down before they sped off. Max was the first to catch Victoria and to be frank she wasn't exactly estatic to see her. She got out of the truck and met Victoria by the time she finished crossing.

"Victoria? Uh, I think you're...missing your bus-" Max was interrupted by the rude accusing glare of Victoria.

"Why the hell didn't you respond to my text, dead weight?!" Victoria barked. That was more than enough for Chloe to come back and stand behind Max.

"Oh...I must've didn't have my notification tone on-." The _Sonic the Hedgehog_ ring chime of her text tone perked up. Max caught in another lie. Victoria was even more upset and was on the point of saying something even more foul but the above boom of the weather was a signal that she should back off. The forces above was throwing her a bone.

"Well...just forget it. Nothing important. You guys are leaving, I should go and catch my bu-" She was stopped as soon as she heard her bus pull off. Cursing mentally, though relieved she had her baggage and tablet in hand. "Great. Now I have to call a cab home and reschedule my whole fucking trip to California."

"Uh...you know, we're heading that way ourselves Victoria. We could just...drop you off." As soon as Max finished her sentence she was met with a simultaneous 'WHAT!?' from Chloe and Max. "Max, you seriously want this bitch to come and mess up what's SUPPOSED to be our chill time?!"

"Oh believe me, reject, I wouldn't dare to interfere with whatever sloppy sex you have with the dead weight." Victoria snarled out.

"Check it, Sweater Vest, regardless of what Max decides I'M the conductor of this train, and you can best believe I'd roast in some fucking coals before I'm caught dead sitting with you!"

"Likewise! I appreciate the selflessness of her, but if /you're/ the catch, I'd rather-"

"Rather what? Get your cronies to make us jump off of a fucking building-"

"THAT. WASN'T. MY. FAULT."

They were arguing. Kate was asleep thankfully so Chloe got away with using her trauma as a card to play against Victoria. But Max didn't like this. As heartless, self centered and egotistical Victoria was, Chloe was in the wrong for that comment, girlfriend or otherwise.

The rain had began to pour. The three were caught in the moderate drizzles of the storm, Victoria fuming up at her misfortune.

"Chloe...she can come. Besides, its not even for the whole trip. Just a drop off to wherever she wants to go, and we're off. Just the three of us."

Chloe sighed, utterly defeated at the compromise. "...I'd only do this for you, you know. Regardless, Victoria makes /three/ in this party. She can be the extra RPG partner no one likes using."

"No one gets your shitty tabletop jokes, deadbeat." Victoria muttered. She was much too annoyed by the rain to give a snappier response.

"It's gonna be a tight fit..." Max sighed, gesturing her head over to the truck. "Free rides regardless. And don't worry; there's gonna be a lot of 'shitty tabletop jokes' on this trip. Just for you, Victoria."

Even Max could have a bit of fun with this unfortunate turn of events.

* * *

 **2,108 words. Fun. Again, review and criticize. If the reception is good I might just make an additional chapter to this.**


End file.
